Critical Essay by Jill Dolan

SOURCE: "Feminism and the Canon: The Question of Universality," in The Feminist Spectator as Critic, UMI Research Press, 1988, pp. 19-40.

In the essay below, Dolan explores the reasons for the acceptance of 'night, Mother into the male-defined canon of great literature.

The insistent work of liberal feminists to make visible the once-hidden talent of women in theatre has been primarily responsible for the growing number of women playwrights working in the professional arena. But the mainstream critical response to plays written by women continues to reveal deep-seated gender biases. By creating a different "horizon of expectations," these biases inform how male critics writing for influential daily newspapers or monthly magazines receive a play written by a woman, especially one that dramatizes concerns traditionally associated with women. Most mainstream critics are powerful enough to influence a production's success or failure in...